Behind the Mask
by ninjathiefprincess
Summary: The story of Yuffie's mother's death during the Wutai War and what happens to Yuffie afterwards. Non canon.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or the characters. They all belong to Square Enix.

_Screams…flames…blood…death…_

Yuffie panted as she ran as fast as she could through the broken and dying city known as Wutai, her hometown. Tears streamed down her face as she blocked out the screams of the injured and the dying. _No…no…no…it can't be…stop…stop, stop stop STOP!_

Angry flames licked her heels as she ran, tears blurring her vision. Dammit, why did they have to come? An army of SOLDIERs had arrived earlier that morning to crush Wutai, mercilessly destroying everything in sight. They spared no one, not even the children or the elderly. Yuffie had just witnessed her best friend being stabbed in the heart with an impossibly long sword by a man with flowing silver hair. She knew who it was: the legendary SOLDIER Sephiroth. When he pulled out his masamune from the dead body, a raging fire came roaring to life within Yuffie. _Kill…kill…KILL!_ Sephiroth had disappeared into the flames before she could run after him, but that didn't stop her from chasing him. There! A flash of long silver hair.

"SEPHIROTH!"

The man stopped when he heard his name. He slowly turned around to stare at the little girl who looked no older than 12 or 13. Yuffie cringed when his eyes met hers, but she steeled herself and got back her composure.

"What do you want, you useless girl?" his deep voice boomed.

"You k-killed my friend! You can't get away with this!" Yuffie whipped out her shuriken and threw it at him, but he easily deflected it with his sword. He raised his sword and approached the girl, ready to stab her in heart like he did to so many others. Fear froze Yuffie's legs in place. _Oh gods, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Noo! Mother!_ Suddenly, a blur came out of nowhere and put itself between Yuffie and Sephiroth just in time to receive the fatal blow from the masamune. The body slumped to the ground, and Yuffie gasped when she saw who it was.

"MOTHER!" she screamed.

"R-run, Yuffie, run!" her mother yelled at her, face twisted in pain. The sword had gone right through her chest.

"No, Mother, noo!" _No, no, no no nonono. This isn't happening! Nonononono! _She took a step toward her mother.

"GO! RUN! DON'T LET ME DIE IN VAIN!" she screamed at her daughter, desperate to save her life. She had sacrificed her own, and she didn't want it to be for nothing. Sephiroth pulled his sword out and turned to Yuffie. "GO! NOW!" her mother's body crumpled to the ground, blood quickly pooling around her.

Yuffie fled. She ran and ran until she left Wutai burning behind her. An agonizing scream tore its way out of her, letting the whole planet know of her pain and loss. She slumped to the ground, her legs no longer able to support her weakened body. Gut-wrenching sobs shook her, and tears flowed freely down her dirty face. _Gods, I killed my mother! I have sinned!_ _It's my fault, all my fault. Oh Gods…If only I hadn't…My sin…Killed her…Mother!_ Soon, a comforting darkness embraced her, and she gladly let herself fall into it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix.

The sun was already halfway down the horizon by the time Yuffie woke up. She wished she hadn't. A pounding headache and mind-numbing pain throughout her body welcomed her back to reality. Dried blood and a layer of dirt clung to her skin. _Urrgh…where am I…?_ She winced as she sat up to take a look at her surroundings. Not too far away she saw a blackened and dead city, wisps of smoke from the leftover flames rising into the sky. She gasped and almost blacked out again as the day's memories flashed through her mind again. _Home…fire…SOLDIERs…Sephiroth…sword…mother…mother! MOTHER!_ Her mother had died to save her life. If only she hadn't been stupid enough to try to take down Sephiroth by herself. Of course, a puny girl like her would never be able to even scratch the mighty SOLDIER.

She panted as her mind involuntarily replayed the last moments of her mother's life. There was _so much blood._ Yuffie gagged, but nothing came out. Her body convulsed from the mental and physical pain. Gritting her teeth and forcing the nightmare from her mind, she gathered all her strength and got up onto her feet. Her legs nearly gave out under her, but she managed to stay upright. Unconsciously, she walked back into the wreckage that used to be Wutai. Everywhere, once-beautiful homes and buildings lay in ruined, blackened from the fire. The ground was stained a dark red from al the bloodshed, a colorful reminder of the atrocity that had occurred. Bodies…bodies all over the place. Some were in gruesomely torn apart, and some lay in impossible positions on the ground among the debris. Yuffie wanted to gag again, seeing all the mutilated bodies of the people she once knew. She struggled to keep the darkness from enveloping her once more. _What am I doing here? There's nothing anymore…_

Suddenly, a mournful cry pierced through the air, full of loss and unimaginable pain. Yuffie ran clumsily toward the sound, and the sight that greeted her made her stop in her tracks. There was her father kneeling on the ground holding onto a bloody corpse.

"_KASUMI! KASUMI! NO!"_

Strangled cries filled the air as Godo held his beloved wife's dead body. His shaking body and sobbing spoke volumes, reflecting the pain that washed through him. As Yuffie approached the pitiful scene, her foot hit a small rock, sending it tumbling toward the pair. Godo flinched and whirled around to see who had intruded. When he saw Yuffie standing there, his face twisted in pain.

"W-why are you h-here? L-leave!" Godo shouted at his daughter, the pain from the loss of his precious wife clouding his mind and judgment.

Yuffie flinched. Without thinking, she obeyed and ran away. As she escaped, she could feel her heart ripping in half. Never had she seen her father cry. Never had she seen him so broken and weak. He was the Lord of Wutai, so she always saw him wielding his power and authority to command the servants and his workers around in the Pagoda where they lived. Now everything is gone, changed forever. Her mother will never hug her, never smile, never fill any room with her aura of peace and calmness. She was gone forever. She had gone back to the Lifestream. With each beat of her heart, Yuffie could feel the pain jab at her insides like a dagger, slowly ripping her apart. It was all her fault that her father had to go through that pain she was feeling. She killed her mother.

_No! If only I hadn't…If only I hadn't…All my fault…I have sinned…My fault…_

She stopped running. Suddenly she couldn't breathe, as if the gods were punishing her by taking away the air. _I deserve it…Punish me…I don't deserve to live anymore…Mother…_ Her head swirled, and her vision was slowly fading. She felt her body hit the ground, but there was no pain. Right before she lost herself to the void, she heard voices faintly shouting and saw a blur of motion approaching her. Then she fainted.


End file.
